The Create Your Taste kiosks are in place in quite a few McDonald's, including this one at Madison Square Park in New York City. You can order anything from the regular menu on the kiosks, as well.
After choosing the burger meat — either a one-third pound or quarter-pound sirloin beef patty — you pick your bun.
From there, you can choose the cheese as well as a litany of sauces and toppings. And yes, most importantly there's an option to add bacon.
After ordering and waiting about six minutes, which isn't bad for the height of the lunch hour, I have my burgers and I'm ready to investigate.
The burgers come in boxes that the average McDonald's customer may not recognize. Why the weird length?
Here's why. The custom burgers come in two pieces. I'm not sure as to why —showing off, perhaps? It certainly looks better than the inside of a typical fast-food burger.
The first burger I built is a simple, classic construction: A third-pounder with natural sharp cheddar, lettuce, tomato, bacon, ketchup, and Mac sauce, all on an "artisan" roll.
Having Mac sauce as an option is big — I love the Big Mac, but all that extra bread gets in the way. Now, you can just have the best of the Big Mac: the secret sauce.
For McDonald's, this is not a bad-looking burger. In fact, it's downright handsome. The roll is immaculate and puffy, and the lettuce is perky and vibrant.
It's as good as it looks — there's a decent amount of bacon on it, and the patty is adequate. It tastes like beef — nothing more, nothing less. The bun holds up well, and avoids the usual sogginess. While not as large as the behemoth burgers at Five Guys, it's filling nonetheless.
For second creation, I decide to take full advantage of McDonald's odder topping options and make something of a Southwestern burger.
I added jalapeño peppers, tomato, and lettuce — but it gets much crazier than these staid choices.
Guacamole, spicy Sriracha mayo, creamy garlic sauce, chili-lime tortilla strips, and crisp red-onion slices are all stacked into this burger, bookended by a premium bun with sesame seeds. That looks like a lot of sauce, but I'm game.
And of course, to stay on theme I chose the natural pepper-jack cheddar cheese. It's perfectly melted, gracefully draped over the quarter-pound patty.
Once again, a burger that defies its smushed fast-food family. The premium bun is okay, but I prefer the artisan variety; this one is really just a fancier-looking regular bun, so it doesn't hold up well and becomes soggy quickly.
And while the crazy amount of Sriracha mayo and garlic sauce make for a fantastic flavor combo, it also makes for a disastrous mess. But overall, the burger is good. Like on the previous one, there is no skimping on toppings, so there are plenty of spicy jalapeños in every bite.
So how does McDonald's Create Your Taste stack up to its better burger competition?
Ultimately, it depends on what you want. While Five Guys' sizes trumps all, Shake Shack's quality and cachet beat McDonald's easily – but if you want complete control of your burger and are looking for some odder options fast, McDonald's new custom burgers may just be your best bet.
